Walking vehicle



Sept. 20,1938. F TURNBULL WALKING VEHICLE Filed July 21, 1956 5 S11eet5-Sheet 1 WV mu Wm m\ \w 0% mm mm WW Om \m WM 0% NW NW m vm Wm \W m mm mm Sept. 20, 1938. F. TURNBULL WALKING VEHICLE Filed July 21, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 3' N QQ mm mm E km 9 3 mm QN kn m NW mun Om MW F. TURNBULL Sept. 20, 1938.

WALKING VEHI CLE Filed July 21, 1936 5 Shets-Sheet 4 MZJ LM 3 w awa 1k J Patented Sept. 20, 1938 PATENT OFFECE WALKING VEHICLE.

Frederick Turnbull, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England Application July 21, 1936, Serial No. 91,697 In Great Britain July 31, 1935 r 9 Claims.

This invention relates to walking vehicles primarily intended for carrying heavy machinery or structures, such as excavators or cranes, over soft ground, and is especially directed to vehicles of the kind, comprising an inner member and a plurality of conjoined outer members, said members being provided with treads and being alternately raised, moved lengthwise and lowered by crank mechanism thus propelling the vehicle.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide improved mechanism for operating a vehicle of the kind above referred to.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved means for raising the vehicle off the ground and for swinging it, when so raised, to change its direction of travel as may be desired.

A further object is the provision on one of such members of a portion which may serve as a tread portion and which may be vertically adjusted relatively to said member to vary the height of such tread portion relatively to the ground, this provision being useful in moving the vehicle over uneven ground.

A still further object is the provision of a walking vehicle which may be lineally moved either forwardly or rearwardly and wherein a continuously operable crank mechanism is provided for achieving lengthwise reciprocation of such inner and outer members and, hence, a substantially continuous lineal movement of the vehicle.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel features of construction, combinations and arrangements of mechanisms herein described and set out in the appended claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a walking vehicle embodying my invention. In the drawings Figure l is a side elevation of the vehicle;

, Figures 1a and 1b are also side elevations of the vehicle at different stages in a cycle of operation, but in these figures, for the sake of clarity, only those parts are shown which are necessary to an understanding of the operation of the means provided for alternately raising and lengthwisely moving the inner and outer. members to achieve lineal movement of the vehicle;

Figure 2 is a plan thereof; and

Figure 3 is a view looking on the left-hand end thereof.

Figure 4 is a part similar view to Fig. 2 showing the concealed portion .of the central mechanism of the vehicle; and

Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-5 in Fig. 4,

Referring more particularly to the specific form of the invention disclosed in the accompanying drawings, the improved vehicle consists of an inner rectangular framework on which the operating and swinging mechanisms are mounted surrounded by an outer rectangular framework which supports the machinery to be transported. The inner framework is built up of longitudinal channel bars II and angle bars l2 rigidly attached to transverse angle bars l3 and channel bars 14 by vertical angle bars l5, vertical channel bars It being attached at intervals between the side bars H, !2. The inner framework is fitted with a pair of treads ll attached to the side angle bars l2. gitudinal channel bars l8 and angle bars l9 rigidly attached to transverse angle bars 20, 2| by vertical angle bars 22, vertical angle bars 23 being attached at intervals between the side bars I8, I 9. The outer framework is fitted with a pair of treads 24 parallel with the treads ll.

Transverse shafts 25, 26 fitted at each end with intermeshing toothed crank discs 21, 28 are mounted in bearings 29 supported by opposite vertical bars N5 of the inner framework. The shafts 25, 26 are simultaneously revolved by a pinion 3D gearing with one of the toothed discs 21, said pinion being fixed on a short transverse shaft 3| on which is also fixed a toothed wheel 32 gearing with a pinion 33 on a second short transverse shaft 34. A sprocket wheel 35 on the shaft 34 is coupled by a chain 36 to a sprocket wheel 31 on the shaft, 38 of a motor 39 carried by a plate 40 supported by the inner framework. The

crank pins M of the crank discs 28 at the ends of v the shaft 26 are coupled by connecting rods 42 to intermediate points 43 on a pair of bell-crank levers 44 mounted one on each side of the inner framework near one end thereof, the lower ends of said levers being coupled by connecting rods 45 to the lower ends of a similar pair of bellcrank levers .6 near the other end of said framework. The bell-crank levers 44, 46 are pivoted on the ends of transverse shafts 41, 68 supported in fixed bearings 49 depending from H of the inner framework. The bell-crank levers are also coupled together by transverse shafts 50, 5! extending through slots 52 in the upper side bars ll of the inner framework, said shafts being fitted at their ends with rollers 53 engaging between parallel rectilinear bearing surfaces 54 carried by the upper side bars l8 of the outer framework and short side bars 55 connected to said framework.

The crank pins 56 of the crank discs 21 are The outer framework is built up of lonthe upper side bars a coupled by connecting rods 51 to a transverse shaft 58 mounted in fixed bearings 59 on the vertical angle bars 22 of the outer framework beyond the adjacent end of the inner framework. The crank discs 21, 28, bell cranks 44, 46 and connecting rods 42, 45 and 51 lie between the sides of the inner and outer frameworks.

It will be best understood, from Figs. 1a and 1b, that as the bell-crank levers 44 and 46 are pivotally connected to the inner framework at the shafts 41, 48, and are also pivotally mounted between the upper and lower parallel rectilinear bearing surfaces 54 on the outer framework, relative vertical movement of said frameworks may be accomplished by rocking the said bell-crank levers, and that as the latter are connected by connecting rod 45, they may rock in unison, thereby maintaining a horizontal parallelism between the two frameworks at all times.

The rockingmotion is imparted to the bellcrank levers 44 and 46 by the discs 28, on each side of the vehicle, through the connecting rods 42, which, being connected to crank pins 4|, are given a reciprocating movement by the rotation of the said discs.

With the several parts of the device resting upon the ground inthe positions shown in Fig. 1, and assuming rotation of the disc 28 in clockwise direction, it will be seen that as the crank pin 4| passes its lowermost position to commence a cycle, the lower ends of the bell-crank levers 44, 46 commence to swing toward the left, raising the inner framework relatively to the outer framework, which latter remains on the ground and, for the time, supports the entire structure. As the pin 4| completes its movement toward the left, -as shown in Fig. 1a, the inner framework reaches itsuppermost position relatively to the outer framework and when the crank pin 4| reaches its uppermost position, finishing one half ofa complete cycle, both the inner and outer frameworks are again resting momentarily sub stantially upon the ground, the inner frame, however, having moved longitudinally to the right relatively to the outer frame while it was raised from the ground, as is hereinaftermore fully explained. As the crank pin 4| passes its uppermost position, the lower ends of the bellcrank levers 44, 46 swing toward the right, as shown in Fig. 1b; raising the outer framework relatively to the inner framework, which latter now remains on the ground and, for the time, supports the entire structure as the outer framework moves upwardly and then back to the position shown in Fig. 1, which position is reached as the cycle is completed by the downward movement of the crank pin 4| to its lowermost position. 1

As the bell-crank levers 44, 46 swing toward the left from-the mid-position shown in Fig. 1,

the transverse shafts 50, 5| ,form temporary fulcrums about which the-inner framework rises whilethe outer framework supports the entire structure, as bestseen, in Fig. 1a., and assaid levers swing toward the right, the shafts 41, 48 form temporary fulcrums about which the outer framework rises while the inner framework supports-the entire structure, as best seen in Fig. 112. Thus, the two frameworks alternately support the weight of the device, much the same as a persons body is alternately supported when walking. 7

While the two frameworks are alternately raised from the ground, each, when in such raised position, is caused to move forwardly rela- 88.pinions are also fixed, said tively to the other in order to impart lineal movement to the entire device. The connecting rod 51 being pivotally connected at one end to a fixed point on the outer framework at 58 and at the other end to the crank pin 56 on the disc 21, it is apparent that, as the said disc revolves, the connecting rod 51 and the outer framework are reciprocated horizontally relatively to the inner framework. As the discs 21 and 23 are similar in size and rotate together, their respective functions, namely, horizontal relative reciprocation and vertical relative reciprocation, are performed together and in an invariable timed relationship.

The crank pins 4| and 56 are so arranged on the discs 28 and 21 that when the crank pin 4| is at the top or bottom of its movement, in either of which positions the weight of the entire structure is about to be shifted from one framework to the other, the connecting rod 51 is at one end or the other of its stroke, as best understood from Fig. 1. Thus, as each framework shifts to an elevated position and while it continues to be supported in an elevated position, the connecting rod 51 is moving in the mean stages of its stroke, as seen in Figs. 1a and 1b, and such elevated frame is moved forwardly while in a relative sense, the supporting framework is moved rearwardly, but as the latter framework is upon the ground, such relative rearward movement yields no rearward lineal movement of the device as a whole. This alternate forward movement, it will be seen, is similar to the alternate forward movement of a persons feet when walking.

A turntable 6| is provided centrally in the bottom of the inner framework of the vehicle and comprises a track 62 and an annular plate 63 connectedtogether'by a circular channel 64 carried by spokes 65 (shown only in Fig. 5) from a hub 66 carrying a bearing 61. In the bearing is mounted a central shaft 68, the upper end of which is supported by a collar 69 bearing on a plate 18 carried by angle bars 1| carried by the inner framework. The weight of the vehicle is taken by three symmetrically-arranged threaded vertical shafts 12 provided with internallythreaded toothed wheels 13 which are coupled together by a central toothed wheel 14 so that they revolve simultaneously. The wheels 13 are supported by U-shaped brackets 15 carried by the inner framework, and said wheels carry ball-bearings 16 which in turn support transverse and longitudinal inner frame members 11. The hub 18 of the central toothed wheel is supported by a collar 19 pinned to the central shaft 68 about which said wheel is free to revolve. One of the internally-threaded wheels 13 is driven through bevel gearing 88 and chain and sprocketgear 8| by a toothed wheel 82 driven by a pinion 83 on the shaft of a motor 84 on the inner framework. Downward travel of the wheel 13 on the threaded shafts 12 is prevented by the U-shaped brackets 15 which are rigidly attached to the inner framework of the vehicle.

The lower ends of the three shafts 12 are pinned to brackets 85 to which a triangular frame 86 is rigidly attached. Rollers 81 bearing on the track 62 are .fixed on axles 88 mounted tached to said frame. On two of the three axles pinions meshing with pinions 9| on radial shafts 92 in bearings 93 carried by the cross members89 and additional cross members 94. bevel wheels 95 coupled together by'an interbetween .the frame 86 and cross members 89 at- The shafts 92 have 75 posed bevel wheel 96 on an idle shaft 91. One of the shafts 92has also fixed on ita pinion 88 meshing with a pinion 99 on the shaft of reduction gearing housed in a casing I00, said gearing being driven by a chain IflI from an electric motor I02 mounted on the frame 86.

It will now be seen that, rotation of the bevel gear 80 simultaneously revolves the internallythreaded wheels E3 on their stationary shafts 72 thus lowering the frame 86 and turntable 66 until the plate 63 bears on the ground, whereupon continued rotation of the wheels "I3 raises the vehicle which is then supported only by the turntable. The vehicle, having been raised off the ground, the motor I92 is set in'motion to drive the rollers 81 around the track. 62 until the vehicle is swung into the desired direction. After swinging the vehicle, the wheels 13 are revolved in the reverse direction to return the vehicle to the ground and. to raise the turntable tI clear thereof.

The motorssfi, 84, I92 above referred to are separately controlled by suitable switch gear.

This facility for vertical movement of the turntable 6i relatively to the inner framework on which it is mounted may yield an additional advantage when the vehicle is being moved over uneven ground. The outer framework may be in contact with the ground, affording support to the vehicle, and yet the treads II of the inner framework may not descend sufficiently to con tact the ground and, in its turn, support the vehicleto permit it to take its next step forward. Under such condition the turntable may be low ered, in the manner heretofore described, to a point below the treads I'I, whereupon the turntable may function as a tread and, being lowered to a sufficient extent, may contact the ground and permit the forward movement of the vehicle to be continued.

A converse situation may arise in which the outer framework may fail to descend sufficiently to contact the ground and support thevehicl for another forward step, 'Under this condition the turntable may function as a tread portion for the inner framework, the treads II being temporarily removed, and the turntable may be raised relatively to the inner framework, thus permitting the outer framework to descend sufficiently to contact the ground and permit another step forward, and hence permit the continued forward movement of the vehicle.

The machinery carried by the vehicle is mounted on the outer framework (for example, in brackets I03), the height of said framework being sufficient to clear the operating and swinging mechanism carried by the inner framework.

As the lower part of the vehicle is free from articulated parts (such as the endless chains frequently used to reduce ground pressure), my improved walking vehicle is well adapted for crossing stretches of water, suitable propelling machinery and floats being added for this purpose and the depth of the inner and outer frameworks being increased if necessary.

It should be understood that the vehicle described herein is illustrative only of my inventive concept, and that various mdifications may be employed for achieving similar objectives without, however, departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, as the various reciprocating and associated mechanisms of the vehicle may be reversed to reverse the direction of lineal movement of the vehicle, the terms forwardly and rearwardly are employed in this specification and in the accompanying claims with reference to either of the directions of lineal movement in which the vehicle may be moved.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:--

1. In awalking vehicle of the character described herein, mechanism for moving said vehicle horizontally upon a supporting surface, said mechanism comprising two vehicle-supporting frames arranged to work freely one within the other, said inner and outer frames being adapted to be relatively moved in parallel vertical planes, an oscillative element pivotally connected to each of said frames and adapted to reciprocate said frames vertically relatively to each other whereby to cause them alternately to support the vehicle, a crank mechanism mounted upon one of said frames and connected to the other frame and adapted to reciprocate said frames horizontally relatively to each other, and interengaging means, working in unison, adapted to drive said oscillative element and crank mechanism in a timed relationship whereby each of said frames,

as it is in turn supported by the other frame of the vehicle, is horizontally moved in the same direction, thus imparting unidirectional horizontal movement to the vehicle.

2. In a walking vehicle of the character described herein, mechanism for moving said vehicle horizontally upon a supporting surface, said mechanism comprising an outer vehicle-supporting frame and an inner vehicle-supporting frame arranged to work freely within the said former frame, said frames being adapted to be relatively moved in parallel vertical planes, a plurality of pairs of oscillative bell-crank levers pivotally mounted on the said inner frame, a pair of crank mechanisms mounted on said inner frame and connected to said bell-crank levers, for simultaneously rocking said bell-crank levers, means carried by said bell-crank levers in rolling engagement with the said outer vehicle-supporting frame whereby the rocking of said levers reciprocates said inner and outer frames vertically relatively to each other to cause them alternately to support the vehicle, a second pair of crank mechanisms connected toand working in unison with said first mentioned pair of crank mechanisms and mounted upon said inner frame, rigid connecting rods, connected to said second pair of crank mechanisms and the said outer frame whereby said inner and outer frames are reciprocated horizontally relatively to each other, and power-driven means for simultaneously driving said pairs of crank mechanisms in a timed relationship whereby each of said frames, as it is in turn supported by the other frame of the vehicle, is horizontally moved in the same direction, thus imparting unidirectional horizontal movement to the vehicle.

3. In a walking vehicle provided with moving mechanism as claimed in claim 1, the combination with said mechanism of means for changing the direction of travel of the vehicle comprising a central turntable pivotally carried by the inner vehicle-supporting frame and normally raised clear of the ground, means for lowering said turntable relatively to said inner frame whereby to raise both the inner and outer vehicle-supporting frames clear of the ground, and means for swinging said frames about said turntable when said frames are entirely supported thereby.

4. In a walking vehicle provided with moving mechanism as claimed in claim 1, the combination with said mechanism of means for changing the direction of travel of the vehicle comprising a central turntable pivotally carried by the inner vehicle-supporting frame and normally raised clear of the ground, not less than three symmetrically-arranged vertical screws carried by said inner frame, rollers on the lower ends of said screws bearing on said turntable, power-driven mechanism carried by said inner frame for simultaneously revolving said screws to lower said turntable relatively to said inner frame whereby to raise both the inner and outer vehicle-supporting frames clear of the ground, and means for swinging said frames about said turntable when said frames are entirely supported thereby.

5. In a walking vehicle provided with moving mechanism as claimed in claim 1, the combination with said mechanism of means for changing the direction of travel of the vehicle comprising a central turntable pivotally carried by the inner vehicle-supporting frame and normally raised clear of the ground, not less than three symmetrically-arranged vertical screws carried by said inner frame, rollers on the lower ends of said screws bearing on said turntable, power-driven mechanism carried by said inner frame for simultaneously revolving said screws to lower said turntable relatively to said inner frame whereby to raise both the inner and outer vehicle-supporting frames clear of the ground, and power-driven mechanism carried by said turntable for simultaneously revolving said rollers to swing the vehicle-supporting frames around on said turntable when said frames are entirely supported thereby.

6. In a walking vehicle of the character described herein, mechanism for moving said vehicle horizontally upon a supporting surface, said mechanism comprising two vehicle-supporting frames arranged to work freely one within the other, said inner and outer frames being adapted to be relatively moved in parallel vertical planes, an oscillative element pivotally connected to each of said frames and adapted to reciprocate them vertically relatively to each other whereby to cause them alternately to support the vehicle, a

pair of coacting cranks carried by one of said frames, a connecting rod, connected between one of said cranks and the said oscillative element said cranks and the other frame whereby to reciprocate the said frames horizontally relatively to each other, the said coacting cranks being arranged to work in such timed relationship that each of said frames, as it is in turn supported by the other frame, is horizontally moved in the same direction, thus imparting unidirectional horizontal movement to the vehicle.

'7. A walking vehicle, according to claim 1, the said inter-engaging means which are adapted to drive the oscillative element and the said crank mechanism, being adapted for substantially continuous operation whereby to uninterruptedly move the vehicle along the ground or other supporting surface.

8. A walking vehicle, according to claim 1, the said inter-engaging means which are adapted to drive the oscillative element and the said crank mechanism, being reversible whereby to permit reversal of the movement of the vehicle along the ground or other supporting surface.

9. In a walking vehicle of the character described herein, mechanism for moving said vehicle horizontally upon a supporting surface, said mechanism comprising two vehicle-supporting frames arranged to work freely one within the other, said inner and outer frames being adapted to be relatively moved in parallel vertical planes, means for vertically reciprocating said frames relatively to each other whereby to cause them alternately to support the vehicle, and a crank mechanism mounted upon one of said frames and connected to the other frame and adapted to move each of said frames forwardly while in raised positions relatively to the other frame whereby to impart unidirectional horizontal movement to the vehicle.

FREDERICK TURN'BULL. 

